Space Shuttle Returns To Round Of Applause

The Crew Was Lauded For Helping Nasa Get A Great Start On Building A Space Station.

December 16, 1998|By Michael Cabbage of The Sentinel Staff

CAPE CANAVERAL - One down. Thirty-five to go.

The first in a five-year series of shuttle flights to build an international space station glided home to Kennedy Space Center late Tuesday night.

The mission had been billed as one of the most ambitious in shuttle history. It will be remembered as one of the most successful.

Endeavour's 12 days in orbit ended at 10:54 p.m. Tuesday, when the spaceship plunged through Central Florida skies and touched down on the Cape's shuttle runway. Flight controllers congratulated the crew on a job well done.

``It's great to be home after such an exciting mission,'' Commander Bob Cabana replied. ``Our congratulations to all of the folks who worked so hard to make it happen.''

With huge challenges still ahead, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration had badly wanted to get the $50 billion, 16-nation station project off to a good start. Endeavour's six astronauts did just that, setting the bar at a standard that future crews will be hard pressed to top.

Cabana had encouraged his crew to make ``the challenging look easy and the impossible look mildly difficult.'' The crew members - Nancy Currie, Jerry Ross, Jim Newman, Rick Sturckow and Russian cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev - took their commander at his word.

During their time in space, they snatched the 21-ton Russian Zarya module from orbit with Endeavour's 50-foot robot arm as the shuttle zipped around Earth at 17,000 mph.

They connected Zarya to the U.S.-built Unity component in the shuttle's payload bay without a clear line of sight. They performed three spacewalks, one to run power and data lines outside the station and two others to do maintenance and get ahead on work for future flights. And they pulled it all off in seemingly effortless fashion. Still, the mission wasn't total perfection.

Ross, America's most experienced spacewalker, let a couple of tools and a thermal cover float away from him while outside the station. And a jet backpack - designed to propel spacewalkers to safety if they become untethered - maneuvered poorly and gulped down fuel during a test in Endeavour's payload bay. But those were minor glitches in a flight that otherwise went according to plan.

``This crew is an outstanding crew that trained and was ready and didn't have to deal with unexpected problems that could have come up,'' NASA Administrator Dan Goldin said shortly after the landing. ``When we go into space, we do have problems, and we'll deal with them. The thing we should learn from this is, let's not get complacent.''

Even with the near-flawless start, NASA still faces the same nagging earthly problems that have hounded the station project for years. Forty-three more launches - 35 aboard the shuttle and eight on Russian rockets - lie ahead during a challenging five-year construction phase.

The Russian economy remains in shambles. As a result, the long-awaited service module, a critical component that will provide crew quarters and propulsion for the early station, is a year behind schedule. NASA bought $60 million worth of stowage space and research time aboard the unfinished module in September in an effort to give Moscow the money to complete it.

``They still plan to ship it to [the launch site in] Baikonur in February,'' Culbertson said. ``So, I believe we've still got a good shot at flying in July if things go well for us.''

If they don't, NASA can launch one more station mission - a supply flight with a single spacewalk in May - before putting assembly on hold again. The planned January 2000 arrival of the station's first crew, which includes Krikalev, also would be postponed. Development of a contingency U.S. propulsion piece that could keep the station in orbit already is in the works.

Concern also remains about whether Moscow can afford to build the rockets needed to launch components, supplies and crews. Congress has been cool to a NASA request for an additional $600 million to help out the Russians during the next four years.

Despite the political headaches, the launch delays have had at least one positive side effect. A year of planned training for Endeavour's crew stretched into two.

``I really think we felt quite familiar with the systems and the procedures because of all of the hours,'' said Currie, Endeavour's robot-arm operator.

As delays end and assembly missions become more tightly packed, future crews won't have as long to prepare. Upcoming flights get even tougher.

``This was easily among the most complex shuttle missions we've ever flown,'' said Bob Castle, the mission's lead flight director. ``It was one of the simplest station-assembly missions.''

About 160 more spacewalks will be needed as the station grows to the size of two football fields. Some of those spacewalks will be more difficult than any on Endeavour's mission.

NASA is still working on those and dozens of other training, engineering and political issues. But at least now, there is a space station in orbit. The cornerstone is in place. And there's one less shuttle assembly mission to worry about.